"I feel bad, especially for the older guys, including myself, because you don't get too many shots at this," he said. "Me and Kev (Kevin Walter) were just talking about it at our lockers. It took nine years just for (me) to get two shots. We just have to keep fighting, keep working and keep banging on that door. Hopefully, it'll fall down."

Quarterback Matt Schaub had an up-and-down day, with the best example coming in the middle of the third quarter and the Texans down 24-13.

Under a little pressure, Schaub escaped the pocket but lost control of the ball as he ran. He fell on it for a 9-yard loss.

On the next play, he threw a dart to Andre Johnson for a 22-yard gain to convert a third-and-16.

But a few plays later, Schaub threw short trying to hit James Casey over the middle and the pass was intercepted for the only turnover of the game.

"He missed a couple of throws here and there, but he did make some great throws, just not enough," offensive coordinator Rick Dennison said.

3rd-down issues frustrate Daniels

Tight end Owen Daniels, who caught nine passes for 81 yards, wasn't happy with the third-down offense. The Texans converted only 27 percent.

"You have a better chance of winning when you stay on the field," he said of the third-down inefficiency. "We had problems with that late in the season, but we were pretty good against Cincinnati (wild-card win).

"I think if we execute better on first and second down, we'd make third down more manageable. It's not like we didn't work on it. We work on it all the time.

"I can't put my finger on why we didn't do well today, but I'd give New England a lot of credit."

Happy returns from Manning

The Texans' first play was an electrifying kickoff return by strong safety Danieal Manning.

Manning returned the game's opening kickoff 94 yards before being tackled at the Patriots' 12-yard line.

"Any time I feel like I'm back there and the coaches allow me to get back there, I feel like I have the capability to make some big returns," Manning said.

Manning had four kickoff returns for 216 yards, making his average 54 yards per return.

Manning returned only one kickoff during the regular season since the Texans typically used rookie receiver Keshawn Martin, but Manning became the team's kickoff returner in the playoffs. He returned two for 47 yards in the Texans' wild-card victory over Cincinnati.

"I think it was good the way they used me," Manning said. "I think Keshawn did a great job. In the playoffs, they decided to go with me. That's how I looked at it."

For Brady, it was a record day

Tom Brady is so good at this playoff thing, he seems to be going for a championship every year.

And he will have another chance to lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl after earning his record 17th postseason victory Sunday. A fourth NFL title for Brady would equal Joe Montana, Brady's childhood hero.

"I love playing, I love competing, I love being a part of this organization," said Brady, who threw for three touchdowns and 344 yards. "I think I've just been fortunate to play on some great teams over the years. I never take it for granted."

With his three scoring tosses, Brady now has 41 postseason TD passes, behind only Brett Favre (44) and, you guessed it, Montana (45).